Thursday, July 01, 2010

0511: Gunslinger

MST3k, Experiment #0511

Hired to kill the woman he loved! Gunslinger.

Oracle, Texas Marshal Scott Hood is murdered and his wife, Rose, takes his badge and sets out on a personal vendetta to find the killers. She'll have the badge two weeks, then the new marshal arrives to take over. Meanwhile, the unscrupulous Erica Page, the saloon-mistress, is busy buying up local property because she has a tip the railroad is going to make Oracle a depot stop. The cowardly mayor warns her that the railroad may not come to Oracle, but Erica already had that base covered, as after she makes payment on the land, she has her moronic henchman, Jake Hayes, murder the seller, take back the money, return it to her so she can buy some more land. Erica is a businesswoman who believes in a fast return on investment. But, in order to get away cleanly, if the railroad does not come through, she sends Jake out-of-state to Tombstone to hire a gunslinger to come kill Rose. He brings back a hired gun who falls in love with his intended target.

Here's a favourite of mine. The movie isn't horrible, especially for a Corman film. I actually think this is one of his best... The movie had a seven(7) day shooting schedule, so I guess it just goes to show the guerilla-style movie-making that Corman does best. There are a few obvious moments where the characters are in the shot waiting for their cues... which I guess is just a casualty of the movie being thrown together so quickly.

Anyways, this episode is great. The movie doesn't absolutely suck, but it's bad enough that there's MORE than plenty to make fun of. The recurring jokes pile up on this one, especially the fan-favourite about the "bedroom" being a hallway, due to the direction of the door, not to forget the number still imprinted on the "inside" of the door. I love how many great lines there are on this one, and just how into the movie and the riffing they all are.

As for segments, the Gypsy Express is great, and I love the bit where Servo tries to explain quantum supposition to the others. I'm a big fan of decoherence, so this is a real favourite sketch of mine.

Anyways, yeah... This is another episode that is far from being the best, but it's definitely a winner.